2008

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. ROBBIE ROBERTSONffHE NEWTON RECORD East Central's Steve Cheatham talks with his defense during a pre-season scrimmage. Cheatham is now the new head coach at East Central. New EC coach hits ground running 1 With national signing day a month away, new Warrior head coach busy with recruiting By Robbie Robertson 11u: Nrwwu Record New East Central Community College footballl coach Steve Cheatham has been a busy person over the Christmas holidays. Instead of enjoying time with nervous and apprehensive about it because of my relationship with Terry. But I'm excited about it and honored to be the head foot– ball coach at East Central." are good players out there and it's our job to recruit them to East Central." The Wa1 riors ... ulHJlitlt:d a "pro· tectcd list" of 22 players within the district to the state office on Dec. 15. After those names were s~bmitted, the East Central

Having been at East Central two seperate times and on the staffs at Ole Miss and Clemson, Cheatham knows exactly what it takes to win. "Recruiting is the name of the game," Cheatham said. "That's the thing we have to do as a staff, is to get the right players that will give us the best chance of win– ning. We lost several close ~ames this year and we have to find play– ers who are going to make plays in those close situations. There

family and the holidays in gener– al, Cheatham has been busy work– ing on recruiting and trying to hire a new offensive coordinator. "It has been a whirlwind," Cheatham said. "Terry (Under– wood) is a real good friend of mine and I hate that it happened the way it did. But he encouraged me to take the job and told me that I really needed to take it. I owe him an awful lot. I was a little

coaches went out recruiting, try– ing to find a few hidden gems. The Warriors are able to sign an "unprotected" player in the state as well as a limited number of out-of-state players. AJFo. Tuscaloosa County in Alabama is considered part of East Central's district and does not count as an Set: COACH. Page 28